Essay Case Report: Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia

Chiquita Brands international was founded in 1899 after the merger of United Fruit Company and the Boston Fruit Company. As bananas be came more of a staple in every home so do Chiquita Bananas. Bananas are know to mainly grown in tropical places like Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Chiquita decided to have operations out of Colombia. During this time there was turmoil in Colombia and different terror groups form “against the government” & other wealthy people in the country. Some of these groups settled in the areas where Chiquita had facilities.
Chiquita run into problems with theses groups around 1997, mainly with FARC…show more content…

These men were only concern with company growth and performance, since they were getting compensated for on the metrics.
Another important cause to Chiquita’s actions in this country is the employees. The company felt, as it was their duty to protect their employees. If it did not pay the AUC, the AUC would have attacked or even kill its employees, that work and lived in that region of Colombia. Chiquita thought if they didn’t protect their employees that the nation and other countries have heard these stories and begin to question them, on the value they have for their employees.
The company felt as if it had it arm-twisted behind its back but in actuality it didn’t. Its choice to pay the AUC was a decision that could have been adverted. Alternative actions could have been taken. For example it they could have hired security or move out of Colombia. Even though both of these are risky and high costing decisions, they still were decisions that were over looked just for financial gain. The company probably felt as if paying the AUC was cheaper than hiring its own personal to insure employee safety.
After all this is Chiquita has to move forward. Its current CEO Fernando Aguirre should acknowledge its wrongs but also reinforce its already established ethical code of conduct. This code should be one that top management upholds themselves. The top management set the example for all of its employees. It should uphold

Final Case Brief
Problem/Challenge Statement
Chiquita is blamed for the actions of two terrorist organizations that extorted money from the company. Victims and their families of the attacks performed by these two terrorist organizations are looking for compensation from Chiquita, claiming that the company is responsible for making those attacks happen. Chiquita has to make a decision whether or not to take the responsibility for the actions performed by the two organizations.
Key Facts/Background…

Peeling Away The Problem
Chiquita dramatically lost profits in the early 1990’s and while the EU’s new policies played a role in contributing to those losses they were not ultimately the cause. After eight years of solid performance Chiquita faltered in 1992, reporting a $284 million net loss. This loss was due to many factors, including but not limited to, the EU’s new policies. In the new regime the European Union enacted quotas on bananas that favored the former island colonies of European countries…

Background
Chiquita Brands International is one of the world’s largest banana producers that were founded in 1899. Founded as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has grown to be one of the top three companies in the banana business with a combined control of 60% market share. Chiquita had annual revenues of $4.7 billion and operating plants worldwide with its main business coming out of Colombia. In this case study, it tells the story of the Chiquita business and how they faced many problems in the past…

TB0245
Andreas Schotter
Mary Teagarden
Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia
No one laughs at the banana in its areas of origin. It is too serious a business, on which jobs and
lives depend.
Peter Chapman, Author of Jungle Capitalists.
For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, bananas are not only
serious business, they represent an array of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal hassles. Since its
founding more than a hundred years…

Abstract:
Chiquita Brands International and its leaders learned a very hard lesson about paying off terrorist groups to protect their employees. Over the past 25 years, no place has been more perilous for companies than Colombia, a country that is finally beginning to emerge from the effects its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments to terrorist groups from 1997 through 2004. The Justice Department began an investigation, focusing on the role and conduct of Chiquita and some of…

Bananas, Chiquita and Globalization
While globalization is a relatively new phenomenon in theory, but not necessarily in history, as of 2009 it has created transnational corporations linked to government, international economic institutions, and non-government organizations. (Steger 67). With this definition bananas are a textbook example of the globalization of tropical fruit commodities. The transnational corporations of the United States, most notably Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte, have been…

10/24/12
Case analysis
Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Columbia
As learned in class, the advantages of international business are great, but so are the risks. Some of the risks involve ethical issues as the ones Chiquita faced doing business in Columbia. Chiquita was the first to successfully internationalize banana trade; Chiquita did so by paying special attention to retail development and followed industry trends. Their competitive advantage was acquired when the company revolutionalized the banana trade…